Start-up as game changers at leap 2025

What was this years LEAP event about?

"De uitdagingen in de gebouwde omgeving zijn groot. Nederland moet vóór 2050 bestaande gebouwen en infrastructuur energiezuinig, klimaatadaptief en toekomstbestendig maken, terwijl er ook een enorme nieuwbouwopgave wacht. Met de huidige aanpak gaan we dit niet redden – er is nu een sprong in productiviteit nodig." (LEAP, 2025)

LEAP 2025 is the annual event of the National Growth Fund program ‘Future-Proof Living Environment’. At the event, innovations enabling a future-proof living environment by 2050 were presented, under the slogan ‘Leap Through Innovation’.

Interesting session on start-ups as game changers

During the session Start-ups as Game Changers, BK-Launch researcher Jip Leendertse shared preliminary findings from his research. Together with Liselore Havermans, PhD from TKI Bouw en Techniek, they first explained why start-ups are so important for innovation and how their development unfolds in the built environment sector. He then zoomed in on the challenges that arise between the pilot phase and the implementation phase. This is where many start-ups struggle.

In this phase, the target audience and market change, often without realizing that start-ups particularly benefit from paid and repeatable contracts. Sometimes, the innovation even conflicts with another party’s business model within the chain, preventing implementation, even when the product clearly adds value.

To bring the discussion to a practical level, the session concluded with a conversation featuring Paul Das from start-up Inside Out. He gave a clear example and a possible solution: start-ups should engage early with the stakeholders who will later set the framework, so those frameworks are aligned with innovation and future-proof buildings right from the start.

Are you curious about research into start-ups in the built environment or want updates on specific start-ups? Follow our page on linkedin as well for regular updates: BK-Launch.